Smart EV Gets a French Connection

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Smart EV Gets a French Connection

The electric Smart fortwo starts rolling off an assembly line in France next month, and Daimler promises to invest tens of millions of Euros in the factory – with a big assist from the French government.

The German automaker plans to build 1,000 of the Lilliputian EVs beginning next month and lease them to selected customers in Europe and the United States by the end of the year. Daimler wants to put a relatively small number of electric Smarts on the road to further refine the technology before gearing up for full-scale production in 2012. It's the same model BMW is following with the Mini E.

"The Smart fortwo electric drive proves that emission-free driving in an urban environment is already feasible today," company chairman Dr. Dieter Zetsche said in a statement.

We already told you in August that Daimler would begin building the car in November; what's new is Daimler's financial commitment to the project and the help it's getting from the French. Daimler plans to invest "a double-digit million Euro amount" in the factory in Hambach, France to produce the cars, which sport a lithium-ion battery with a range of 115 kilometers (about 71 miles). What's more, French president Nicolas Sarkozy says the government will provide help through the PAT (Prime d'amenagement du territoire) subsidy program. The Lorraine region and the Departement de la Moselle could provide additional funds.

"Both these measures will comprise a total of 15 percent of the investment," Daimler said.

The Hambach plant started crankin' out Smart cars in 1997. It employed 1,600 people last year and produced 140,000 fortwos. It has turned out more than one million Smarts in the past decade.